OR, he can read this thread and chime in!
I have found Loyalist Arms excellent guns. MVTC are also good. I work at reenactments on both as well as Pedersoli. As to authenticity, except for the non-walnut stock, the Loyalist Arms Bess looks like they made a copy of a 1st Model Bess from the collection at Colonial Williamsburg. btw I have had to adjust triggers and springs and the hardness on frizzens in Pedersoli products.
In fact Loyalist Arms and other imported muskets are so authentic, that one cannot simply order a replacement part that drops in..., the parts all need to be fitted, and no two replacement parts are fitted in the same way..., that may be a drawback for some folks. But that IS how the originals were made too.
If my gun had come to me the way it sits today, I'd be telling you that the Indian guns seem nearly as good as a Pedersoli for $400 less.
As it is though, I just really can't recommend them at their current price point.
I can, because the MSRP of the Pedersoli product with bayonet ranges from $1370.00 to $1105.00 (Lowest is in US dollars buying from Canada) and the price of a proper 1st model with bayonet WITH scabbard, from Loyalist Arms (as an example) is a mere $674.00. The Pedersoli product is incorrect for many reenactments in the United States and Canada, AND does not have proper, historic, proof marks.
So one saves from $726.00 (geesh that's an extra musket and bayonet) to $431.00, and the modifications that Elmerfudd mention costs less than $100
if they are needed. A replacement ramrod from Dixie is $25, a bunch of green-scrubbies is like $5 leaving $70 for stripping, staining, and refinishing a stock, and for a file to adjust the trigger pull.
HINT: You can unship the barrel and lock, and smear both with yellow mustard (the condiment) and allow this to turn brown and hard, and repeat the process over a few days, and develope very good looking patina, no green scrubbie needed. Use a plastic tooth brush to knock off the surface rust and dry mustard between coats, and the last coat, rinse with water and baking soda, dry, then apply oil. The vinegar does the trick, and the mustard portion helps you to get a more uniform layer.
Do NOT buy any musket made outside of America that requires you to drill the touch hole, and thus you may be liable if an accident happens, for YOU are then converting it from non-firing to firing. You can get muskets from Canada ready to reenact with a modern flash guard present on the lock, by having them ship you the lock in a different box from the rest of the gun..., and merely drop it into the stock and tighten the screws to assemble the gun. The laws of Canada require this two box arrangement.
LD